


The Snow Queen

by RadiantSeraphina (Lady_Arrowwood)



Series: The 12 Days of Christmas [1]
Category: Kirby (Video Games), Kirby - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure & Romance, F/F, Fairy Tale Retellings, No Lesbians Die, Snow Queen Elements, oblivious to love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-26 00:32:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17131634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Arrowwood/pseuds/RadiantSeraphina
Summary: With Dreamland and her people encased in ice and King Dedede missing, it's up to Susie, Francisca, and Kirby to join forces and save Dreamland from a new, mysterious threat. Susie is a secretary, not a hero, and she's only interested in saving Dreamland in the hopes of potential material gain. But she didn't count on Francisca being such a beautiful woman.





	The Snow Queen

When Susie woke, her room was covered in ice and snow. She started, her blue eyes widening when she saw the icicles clinging to her bed-frame and the frost creeping over the once-warm stones of the fireplace. Slowly, Susie climbed from bed, pulling the sleep cap over her pink hair. She quickly donned her usual clothes, her favorite white and black suit, not a wrinkle in sight, and her helmet. The air chilled her skin, and even once Susie was clothed, the fabrics were still frigid against her bare flesh. Why did this accursed planet have to be so _cold_?

 

Because of her role in defeating Hyness and Termina Void, Susie had been granted residence in Castle Dedede. Of course, “granted” was really a formal, kind way of saying it. Susie had feeling that part of this was likely Meta Knight’s doing. He wouldn’t want her wandering Dreamland unchecked. But regardless of whatever political game King Dedede and Meta Knight were playing and whatever their motives, Dreamland wasn't really a bad place to be. Or it _hadn't_ been. Now, Susie was deeply regretting her decision to stay in Dreamland. With a heavy sigh, Susie thought of Haltmann Works and their carefully controlled climate. She shivered and reached for her cape, a new article of clothing created from a strange material that the Dreamlanders called “fleece.” Susie wrapped the cape around herself and floated to her door. She pulled on the handle, trying to ignore the bite of the frost-nipped metal against her bare hand. Susie scowled and tugged again, but the handle refused to budge.

With a scowl, Susie went to her nightstand and pulled out her mini flamethrower. Was this a bit much for a frozen door? Sure. But it wasn’t _Susie_ ’s castle, so who cared if the door or wall took a little collateral damage?

 

Susie flicked on the flamethrower and aimed the flames at the door. Her brow furrowed when the ice didn’t melt as quickly as she had anticipated. Was this really the usual Dreamland winter?

 

“Hello?” Susie yelled.

 

No one answered. Susie scowled. So much for Dreamland’s hospitality! There wasn’t even anyone to help her when she needed it.

 

“This kingdom would have been so much better mechanized,” Susie muttered bitterly. “We could have given it perfect climate control. It would have been great!”

 

_Shink!_

 

Susie jumped back as the tip of a blade sliced through the narrow crack between the door and its frame. She lowered her flamethrower, not wanting to harm her would-be rescuer.

 

“About time!” Susie snapped. “Honestly, your—”

 

Before Susie could launch into a lecture about how the denizens of Castle Dedede _clearly_ needed to learn a few things about the hospitality and tourism industry, the door opened and knocked her in the shoulder. “Hey!” Susie snapped.

 

“Japologa vun. I didn’t mean to strike you with the door.”

 

Susie had expected one of the waddle dees, but instead, Francisca, the Frozen General and Bringer of Icy Doom, stood in the doorway. Like Susie, Francisca and her sisters had been invited to stay in Castle Dedede, but only Francisca had accepted. The others had chosen to travel elsewhere in the kingdom, uncomfortable staying with the same people who had recently been their foes.

 

Despite the cold temperature and sudden ice storm, Francisca looked completely at ease. She was a pretty woman, almost too pretty to be real. Her hair and eyes were a vibrant, flashy blue that demanded to be noticed; her skin was as white as snow. But there was something sad about Francisca, something that Susie had glimpsed beneath the ice mage’s cool and unruffled façade.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Susie said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

 

It was easy to be irritated with King Dedede or Meta Knight. Susie knew where she stood with them and how far she could push them until they snapped back, but Francisca was still a mystery. And mysteries required careful courtesy and patience.

 

“I’m just happy someone opened the door for me. The hospitality around this castle is simply disgraceful,” Susie said.

 

“You’re likely to receive a frosty reception for a while,” Francisca replied, waving a hand.

 

When Susie looked past the mage, she gasped. Whatever Dreamland’s winters were like, this couldn’t possibly be the norm. Ice, inches thick, coated every surface. Further down the hall, Susie glimpsed the waddle dee guards, frozen in place. “My word,” Susie whispered, drifting past Francisca. “What is this?”

 

“I don’t know,” Francisca replied. “This is something that is far beyond my own powers, and my attempts to de-frost these little ones have failed.”

 

“But why aren’t we frozen?” Susie asked.

 

“I’m uncertain,” Francisca replied, “But I have just begun my search. If we continue searching, we might be able to learn more.”

 

Susie wrapped her cape more tightly around her. This meant that she would be incapable of wielding her flamethrower without setting herself ablaze, but Francisca was surely capable of defeating any foe with her axe and ice magic. “Sure,” Susie said.

 

Together, the women traversed Castle Dedede, but there was little change. The whole castle and its denizens appeared to be completely encased in ice. Susie kept close to Francisca, comforted by the mage’s impressively-sized battleaxe. The door to Dedede’s bedchambers was open, a waddle dee frozen halfway to delivering his liege a platter of food. Francisca crept inside, Susie following. Like everywhere else, Dedede’s bedroom was frozen. Meta Knight, mid-strike, stood encased in ice. Dedede was absent.

 

“Do you think everyone here is dead?” Susie asked.

 

Susie would have assumed so, but she was quickly learning that magic didn’t follow the rules and physics she had learned since birth.

 

The ice mage waved a hand over Meta Knight, causing the ice around the knight to glow a soft blue. “No,” Francisca said. “He is only sleeping. Presumably, the others are, also.”

 

Susie nodded.

 

Francisca and Susie turned away and continued searching the castle. The women heard the pitter-patter of footsteps. Susie shifted aside her cape, exposing herself to the cold to wield her flamethrower. The footsteps might belong to someone else in the castle, or they might belong to whoever was responsible for all this.

 

Francisca held her axe ready.

 

“Who goes there?” Susie asked, forcing ever ounce of authority into her voice. “Show yourself!”

 

A pause.

 

Francisca exchanged a look with Susie. Very slowly, they crept down the corridor, closer and closer to the sound. A long shadow appeared around the corner. Susie’s pulse raced. The shadow moved, followed by a blur of pink.

 

“Hi!”

 

Kirby, wearing a tiara made of icy crystals, skated into view. The puffball smiled brightly, evidently delighted to see them.

 

“Susie! Fran!” Kirby shouted, waving enthusiastically with both of his paws.

 

Susie rolled her eyes. The overly enthusiastic, super-powered child _would_ survive, wouldn’t he? Out of the corner of her eye, Susie saw Francisca lower her axe.

 

“Not frozen!” Kirby exclaimed.

 

“Obviously, Pinky,” Susie said, stowing her flamethrower and once more wrapping her cape around her.

 

“Juh. That makes three of us, then,” Francisca mused. “Why do the three of us remain unfrozen, while most of the castle remains imprisoned by ice?”

 

Kirby tilted his head, seemingly confused. “Not all waddle dees are frozen,” he said, waving a paw to indicate some vague direction down the hall.

 

“Have you seen King Dedede?” Francisca asked.

 

Kirby shook his head.

 

Francisca leaned against her axe handle and hummed. “So we and some of the waddle dees remain unfrozen, and the King of Dreamland appears to be missing,” Francisca said. “That seems too strange to be a coincidence.”

 

“It does,” Susie replied, “But why would someone want the king? Meta Knight was right there.”

 

“What?” Francisca asked.

 

Susie shrugged. “I mechanized Meta Knight and studied King Dedede’s DNA. Between the two, Meta Knight would be the better choice 65% of the time, as opposed to Dedede’s 35%. Meta Knight would have been Haltmann Works’ greatest asset, aside from Star Dream, if Pinky hadn’t thwarted our colonization of this planet.”

 

“Meta? Dedede?” Kirby asked, his blue eyes wide.

 

“Meta Knight is frozen,” Susie replied. "Your Royal Nemesis appears to be missing in action."

 

“But they're likely both alive,” Francisca added. “If we learn what force has caused this, I’m certain we can save your friends.”

 

Kirby brightened. “I’m good at saving my friends!” he declared.

 

“You may have to save more than him,” Francisca said. “There is some greater force at work here. All of Dreamland might be frozen.”

 

“There’s one way to find out,” Susie replied.

 

Kirby skipped ahead as the woman made their way to the large, oak doors that stood at the main entrance of Castle Dedede. Kirby pulled on a handle, using his feet to try and brace himself, but the doors—frozen shut—didn’t budge.

 

“Let me try,” Francisca said.

 

Francisca raised her axe and swung, bringing it down between the doors. She pulled the weapon back, releasing chips of ice. Again and again, she swung the axe, splintering wood with every strike. Finally, with a fierce shout, the door buckled. Susie pushed hard against the door. A loud creak cut the air, and the door slowly opened. Bright sunlight streamed in, momentarily blinding Susie.

 

Once she had blinked the sudden light out of her eyes, Susie drew in a sharp breath at the sight that met her eyes. Dreamland’s once green hills were coated in a thick, downy layer of snow which stretched out for miles. There was some green in the distance, but it was quickly being overtaken with a sheet of ice. A biting wind tore through the air, chilling Susie’s face. She shivered and buried her face deeper into her fleece cape.

 

“It looks like whoever is responsible left a trail,” Francisca said.

 

The mage waved towards a path of frost, which seemed to have been carved between the heavy banks of snow. The frost stretched out of sight and vanished somewhere into Dreamland’s once-luscious landscape.

 

“So if we follow it, we can find the culprit,” Susie mused.

 

Did she want that? Despite helping the Dreamlanders fight against Hyness and Termina Void, Susie wasn’t a hero. She was an opportunist, and all this ice and snow seemed like a sure indication that she ought to cut her losses and head elsewhere.

 

“We’ll save everyone!” Kirby declared, going onto one foot. “For sure!”

 

Susie sighed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “All right, Pinky,” she said, “But I had better get a castle out of all this!”

 

Francisca laughed quietly. “I think that first we’d best search for you some warmer clothes, Susie,” Francisca said. “While the cold doesn’t bother me or Kirby, it seems to be bothering you a great deal.”

 

The ice mage had a point. “I hadn’t counted on being frozen,” Susie said.

 

If she was going to stay in Dreamland, she really did need to introduce the people living there to the wonders of thermostats.

 

“All right,” Susie said. “First, a clothing change, and then, we’re off to rescue these Dreamlanders from their eminent demise. Again.”

 

Francisca shifted uneasily. “Yes, again,” the mage muttered, sounding distracted.

 

Perhaps, she felt guilty for so recently working towards Dreamland’s eminent demise. But that was nothing special. Aside from Kirby and _maybe_ King Dedede, Susie was thoroughly convinced that nearly everyone in Dreamland had tried to conquer or destroy the kingdom at least once.

 

“We’re off to save our friends!” Kirby exclaimed.

 

Susie slowly turned back to Castle Dedede. It was cold, miserable, and now, she had to embark on a quest for an indeterminate amount of time with Pinky. And Francisca. Susie hummed, vaguely aware of Francisca and Kirby talking behind her. Well. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but Susie had better get _something_ out of the deal. A region or city named after her _at least_. A castle of her own maybe. Or, at least, a lab surrounded by all her beloved technology. Despite being allowed to leave in Castle Dedede and being waited on hand and foot, Susie really missed having full access to everything she’d had at Haltmann Works.

 

And if Susie could recover all that technology, she could begin her own company in Dreamland! She could introduce these natives to something _really_ amazing! Dreamland might be full of magic, but she could be so much better with just a _little_ of technology. Yes, Susie decided, this would be a venture well worth taking. The risk might be great, but it seemed quite probable that the potential reward would be even greater.

 

 


End file.
